Story of ASHA ‘COTTON FABS’: From a family tradition to a booming business

Running behind the machine-made products and modern clothing produced in huge numbers, we tend to forget the beautiful Indian art forms and traditions that are on the verge of extinction.

Amidst this era of vanishing traditions, there are a few people who are endeavoring to keep their family traditions alive. Aarti and Rohit Rusiya, hailing from the Chippa community of Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh have shouldered the responsibility to flourish their family tradition of hand block printing and handloom. With a generous purpose to save their timeless traditions and cultural identity, they established ASHA (Aid and Survival of Handicraft Artisans) and distributed unique creations under the brand name COTTON FABS.

With this initiative, while they are preserving and promoting their family art form, they truly align with the values of their brand name “ASHA, which means hope”. Empowering the tribal community (mainly women) and boosting their morale by offering special moments to cherish their amazing creations and achievements, they give them the much-required hope.

Impacting the lives of women artisans

With a zeal to uplift the socio-economic status of women and support struggling talents, they assist rural women artisans to earn a livelihood for their families and lead a dignified life.

Transforming their lives, they’ve helped these women create their own identity by showcasing their artistic creativity to perfectly weave yarns and imprint best quality block prints. Collectively, as a family, all these women create beautiful apparel, carve the wooden blocks with attention and patience, and put their best efforts to deliver exactly what the consumers want.

What AHSA ‘COTTON FABS’ do

Passionate about adding value to the handloom and block printing industry, Aarti streamlines and optimizes the entire creation process. Stepping closer to her dream of reviving the age-old family heritage, she enthusiastically operates and guides her fellow artisans develop authentic hand block printing clothing and pure handloom ethnic apparel.

From weaving, dying, printing, and stitching to finally delivering the traditional clothing and home accessories, ASHA ‘COTTON FABS’ is bridging the gap between the artisans and buyers. Ranging over a wide variety, their creations include sarees, suits, jackets, tops, shirts, bed linens, paintings, and much more, at reasonable prices. Blending traditional designs and prints with the fashion sense of the modern generation, their products deliver unique and impressive style experiences.

To ensure genuine and high-quality production, the workforce at ASHA ‘COTTON FABS’ go the extra mile and carry out every single operation on their own. From efficiently controlling thread motions of warp and weft in order to prepare a robust handwoven cloth, carefully imprinting hand block designs, to sewing the handwoven and hand printed designs into an attractive piece of clothing; they do it all with love and passion.

Not just this, prioritizing customer satisfaction, they go a step beyond by offering customized products. From offering the flexibility to choose preferred colors and designs, they create completely personalized designs, tailored to fit their customers’ needs.

Spearheading for a noble cause, Aarti and Rohit Rusia want to leave no stone unturned as they utilize the modern means of reaching the new generation of consumers. In addition to having their own website, where they accept direct orders, they have extended their online presence with other well-known platforms like Amazon, Shopclues, Fashiola, and more. At the same time, keeping their pace, they ensure excellent customer services over various digital communication mediums, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others.

What future beholds

Finding the strength in threads and looms and moving ahead with strong belief, ASHA ‘COTTON FABS’ and its fellow artisans are sure to have a bright future ahead.

Having won many awards and getting recognized in the online and offline community affirms this fact. Making traditional art pieces affordable for everyone, they are doing a great job by giving the younger generation an opportunity to experience the diversity and beauty of our culture.

They’ve come through a long way and there is still more to go!